Their Doctor
by Princess Pinky
Summary: There are three women The Doctor loves the most and when worst comes to worst, they ban together to save him.


**A/N: **I wrote this shortly after "The Doctor's Wife" aired, so there may be some things in here that make you do a double take (not that bad though) because I didn't know exactly who River was when I wrote this. But essentially, I think it still works.

_**Their Doctor**_

River scanned the menu, although she knew it by heart. It was the most divine restaurant in the universe and of course _he_ had been the one to introduce her to it; their first date. Well, both their first dates, actually. The very first time he had ever asked her out, he took her there because that was where she took him, and the very first time she had asked him out, she took him there, because that was where he took her. "Wibbly wobbly," she mused.

"Time wimey."

The reminiscent smile faded from the corners of her lips and she slowly lowered the menu down so she could see over the brim of it. Standing across the table was a woman with wild chestnut hair. "It's been a while." She motioned her hand towards the vacant chair across from her. "Fancy a seat?"

The woman fingered one of the blue bows on her Victorian gown. "The Doctor's dying."

River's hand shook as she calmly laid the menu onto the white tablecloth. "And you thought I should know?"

"No."

"No?"

"It's more complicated than that." She lifted her hand and the restaurant faded away, replaced by the blackness of space, surrounding a massive manmade planet: The Library. Her index finger extended in the direction of an indigo police box hovering just outside of The Library. "I'm in orbit as we speak. There's not much time left. Jenny's with him now."

"And what am I supposed to do?" River asked, without taking her eyes off the blue box. She instinctively moved her fingers to the corner of her eye, wiping away a simulated tear.

"I can interface with you, but I can't talk to them. _You_ can."

"And what am I supposed to say?" she demanded, inadvertently raising her voice. "'I'm sorry you're dying, but–'"

"I want you to save him."

"Everybody dies! Even The Doctor. I've learned to accept–" She closed her mouth, then opened it again. "_Oh._ Oh, you're _brilliant!_"

A mischievous smile crept across the face of Idris, the only human personification the TARDIS ever took. "I'm landing. I'll connect with CAL's mainframe to boost your signal so you won't have to appear as a face, but as a complete projection. You'll have to instruct her from there."

River nodded and a moment later, she watched TARDIS's human form slowly faded away. She lifted her head again and for a second, she could still see the TARDIS phone box hologram orbiting The Library, then, it too, vanished. River placed her hand to her throat and ran through the motion of inhaling deeply.

"Connection: complete."

"Here we go: one last run…"

**DW DW DW DW**

"Dad. _Dad!_" Jenny was on the floor, propped against the console, cradling a man in her arms. Her mind flashed back to her first day of life, back on Messaline. She remembered with crisp clarity the way her father had looked at her as she lay dying in his arms. _Is that the way he sees me now?_ She heard the TARDIS hum around her; a deep, throaty hum, like a wounded animal on the side of the road. "There's got to be something I can do," she whispered. "What if – I could give you one of my regenerations? Yes! Regeneration energy can be transferred. I just need to know how! How? Dad, _please…_"

The Doctor lifted his hand to stroke Jenny's face. His fingertips quivered as they graced the satin skin of her cheek. "Every — everybody d-dies. E-e-even Time L-ords." His lashes fluttered in time with his wisps of breath. "W-e j-just li-ve t-o-o lo-ng."

Jenny leaned her head forward, pressing her forehead to her father's. "We haven't had enough _time_." Her breath hinged on the last word and her black tears found fell from her face to his. "You promised to take me to–" Her fingers curled tightly around his shoulders; she couldn't say it. If she didn't say it, she couldn't jinx it. _"I don't want to be alone."_

Down the ramp, the doors clicked. The noise temporarily stole Jenny's attention and slowly they opened, outwards. Once opened, they revealed a white statue. The metal pole on the statue began to rotate the oval disc at the top and once it was completely turned around, a face protruded out of it.

Jenny gasped. "Mum!"

A golden glow washed over River Song's face and quickly spread along the statue, before propelling outwards like a tractor beam. The light began to coalesce, spinning and threading and weaving, until River's fully fledged body stood on the ground. She lifted her hands to her face, inspected them, then ran them over herself to make sure the projection had occurred without error. Once satisfied, she looked ahead, and caught Jenny's glassy eyes. "Jenny." She smiled weakly and stepped into the TARDIS. The first thing she noticed was the new desktop. She strode up the ramp and knelt down before her step-daughter, with The Doctor lying in between.

"But…how?" Jenny shook her head. "I never programmed a landing."

"The TARDIS took you to where you needed to be." She gazed down at The Doctor, whose eyes were closed. "But never mind that, we don't have much time."

"Time to do what?"

"Save him."

Jenny cocked her head. "There's a way? I knew it! How?"

River rose from her spot on the floor. "You'll need to let him go." She curled her index finger, beckoning Jenny. "And follow me."

Jenny inhaled sharply and eased The Doctor's body to the ground. She kissed her father's cheek and whispered close to his ear, "Don't go anywhere." She stood quickly and trailed River out of the TARDIS and right up to a control screen.

River motioned her hand over the control screen and it came to life, revealing floor plans of The Library. "We're here," she explained as a blinking red dot appeared to the spot she had pointed to. "And you need to get here." She moved her finger to another area of the screen, where a blue dot appeared. She began to run her finger along the screen, creating a line like a connect-the-dots puzzle. "If you follow this path, jump through the platform tunnel which I've disabled, and traverse this corridor, you should be able to get there in roughly five minutes…depending on how fast you can run."

Jenny grinned. "Oh, three, easy. I'm very good at running."

River mirrored the smile on the blonde's face. "I remember."

"But why?"

"You need to get a sonic screwdriver. It will be sitting on a ledge, on top of my diary. Bring it to me. Now." River looked back at the TARDIS. _"Run!"_ Her eyes trailed Jenny's flopping ponytail as the latter took off like a lightning bolt. "And stay out of the shadows!" She shook her head. "Just like him." She swallowed and when Jenny was out of eye sight, she briskly returned to the TARDIS; to The Doctor's side. She fell to her knees beside him, her eyes shining like the lights on the TARDIS's control panel. "Hello, Sweetie," she whispered. "Can you hear me?" When she received nothing in response, she moved her hand to his hair. _"My Doctor…"_ As her hand touched the ginger strands, her fingers moved through them, like light through glass.

"_River."_ His eyes didn't open and his lips barely moved.

"_Shhh._ Don't speak. Jenny's going to be back soon." It had been so long since she'd properly touched him – held him – and she ached to do so in his dying moments.

There was a mechanical groan and the display monitor blinked to life with the words _I'm sorry_ scrawled across the screen.

"Telepathic circuits." River muttered under her breath and beamed at the TARDIS's never ending brilliance. She looked down at him and scolded. "Don't say that; you're not allowed to say that, not about this. What you should be sorry for is never stopping by say hello." She wiped her eye with the back of her sleeve. "Goddess," she croaked, caught somewhere between a laugh and a sob. "Sometimes I just hate you!"

_No you don't._

River's back stiffened as she felt the distinctive vibration of footsteps nearing her location. As part of The Library, she had become intimately in tune with it. Then she heard the sound of rubber against wood. "Jenny's back."

"Mum! I've got it!" Jenny skid through the doors leaving a swirl of proverbial flames behind her. She fell against the console and rapidly inhaled and exhaled as she held up River's sonic screwdriver. "Five minutes _even!_" she announced proudly. "Now what?"

"There's a secret compartment on the side."

Jenny ran her slender fingers along the side, feeling for anything unusual, then she applied pressure. A moment later there was a click and the lid slid into her hand, revealing River's neural relay. "This it?"

"Yes. Take it out, scan it, and then scan him. First his eyes, then his head; a full head scan."

Jenny obliged. The blue light washed over the neural relay and then into The Doctor's eyes as she lifted his lids. The sonic buzzed as it scanned his head. "Now?"

"Scan the relay again. It should automatically connect to his brainwaves." She waited. If she could breathe, she would've been holding her breath. Then the neural relay lit up like kryptonite. "Now, here's the hard part: to save him–"

"I have to let him die." Jenny's eyes began to water again. "I remember." She nodded. "The day he told me he was taking you to the Singing Towers, he told me how he was 'saving' you. He told me that souls don't exist, but knowledge does, and Time Lords have this tradition…when one dies, their mind is transferred to a computer, so the knowledge they've retained during their lives is never lost. It's the equivalent of an afterlife, to be shared with future generations. He said that's what he gave you: an 'afterlife' fit for a Time Lady. _His_ Time Lady."

"Jenny." River pointed to the monitor and the blonde turned her attention to look at it.

_Jenny._ _I'm so proud of you._

Jenny squatted down and grabbed The Doctor's limp hand. "Dad, I love you." She felt a faint pressure around her hand and looked to the monitor. But nothing appeared. Instead, she heard a voice.

"I – I – I l-l-lo—"

Jenny looked down at her palm which contained the neural relay. Her father's voice was coming from it and one of the bars was flashing. She squeezed her dad's hand one last time and released it, before pressing her hand over her mouth. The first bar went out and the second bar began to flash.

"I – I – I l—"

"You have to upload him before the last bar goes out or it'll be too late." River tore off down the ramp without looking back. She heard Jenny behind her and directed her to the wall. "Plug the sonic in there, just like a flash drive."

"I – I – I—"

The second bar went out and the third began to flash. Jenny inserted the neural relay into the sonic, replaced the cover, and quickly kissed the blue crystal before jamming it into the wall. Electric blue surges began to crawl along the wall, hiking up to the core of the planet.

**DW DW DW DW**

It was dark. "River?" He strained his eyes to see something. _Any_thing. "River, are you there?"

A small point of light appeared in the darkness. It began to grow and glow a molten gold, then shoot off into comets of light that began to spiral around him, embracing him like a lover. He pressed his hands to his face and felt it begin to change, almost like regeneration, but without the pain. Beneath his fingers, he felt old familiar old noses and cheekbones and hair. Within his mouth, he felt familiar teeth and familiar tongues and in the pit of his stomach, he felt familiar cravings, like fish fingers and custard and jelly babies. Then all at once, it stopped. The swirls of gold retracted from him and began to unite before his eyes, weaving together to take on the human shape he'd only ever seen once before.

"My Doctor."

The Doctor touched her cheek. While looking into her eyes, he could see his own reflection: his first incarnation, looking exactly the same as he had the day he'd walked into that unlocked TARDIS and touched her console for the very first time. "I never thought I'd see you again."

"Special circumstances," the TARDIS smiled. "Sometimes I visit River here. As a fellow machine, I can interface with her. And now, I can interface with you, too."

The Doctor wove his fingers into the tangles of her dark brown hair. "If you'd only been human…"

"If you'd only been a machine."

"If you'd been any kind of corporeal entity –"

"_I know."_ She laid her hand over his, which was still pressed to her cheek. "My Peter Pan," she sighed. "I always destined to be your Tinkerbell. And I watched you grow, my eternal boy, and now you're all grown up. No more growing left to do. No more running. No more–" She felt The Doctor's mouth on hers, stealing away her words. Kissing. Oh, so many ideas about kissing. Her Doctor; she was kissing Her Doctor. Her irises began to glow golden and she quickly pulled away.

"You're still the most beautiful thing I've ever known."

"If I could keep you with me forever…"

"But you can't," he nodded, his eyes flooded as though with raindrops. "Only one consciousness per TARDIS. And you're already it."

"But it's okay," she smiled tragically. "Because you have The Library. And River. Oh, River. I always liked her, you know. Of all the ones you picked up during our time together, I loved her the best. She respected me in a way that only you did before her. And I know you loved her. _Love_ her. Oh, tenses. And she loves you. We've talked about it; we understand each other. I trust her to look after you."

"I don't need looking after," he lightly scoffed.

"Shh. Of course you do. You always have. That, and company. Companionship." She nodded. "That's why I know this is the right choice; the best of both worlds. You're safe with her and I can still see you from time to time."

**DW DW DW DW**

River had seen Jenny upset before, but never like this. At those times, she'd collected her into her arms and held her the way her own mother had held her. This time, she couldn't even touch her.

"I love you."

River turned abruptly. She remembered that voice, how could she ever forget it? It was the same voice that had pleaded with her not to die; the same voice that had asked who she was the very first time she'd met him. It belonged to an incarnation she had met on only a few occasions and it had been the one that killed her.

"Dad?" Jenny stared at the holographic projection in awe. Her father's tenth incarnation; what he looked like the day she had first met him. "How?"

"Cyber world, anything's possible." He pointed to the TARDIS. "It's a heavy drain on her power, though, to project both River and I in full form. She's deleting rooms as we speak to keep us here, so we don't have long. I just wanted you to know how important you are to me and how much I'm going to miss you."

"How much _we're_ going to miss you," River corrected. She moved towards the projection of The Doctor and, without thinking, took his hand.

"But you've still got so much growing left to do. This life and twelve more after that. Just like me." The Doctor motioned his hand towards the TARDIS. "I want you to look after her." At that, a whirring sound came from inside the box. He scoffed. "Of course you do. You always have. That, and company. Companionship." He returned his attention to Jenny. "Just because I'm gone doesn't mean there aren't still worlds to save and adventures still to be had. And the TARDIS lives for adventure!"

"And the running," Jenny squeaked. "So much more running."

River winked. "The run is the best part."

Jenny moved to the TARDIS doors and stroked one gently. "I'll take care of her," she promised.

"I know you will."

The Doctor scrunched up his face and it began to change. The color in his hair began to turn from brown to ginger, his height began to shrink, and his clothes began to transform. He grunted a bit as he changed from his tenth incarnation into his final incarnation, all the while still holding onto River's hand. "And one more thing! No boys in the TARDIS!" As Jenny opened her mouth to protest he added quickly. "Or girls."

Jenny placed her hand to her hip. "Sure," she agreed. "No boys or girls for me and no handcuffs for you."

"Oi! How do you–"

River playful ribbed him. "Don't forget to visit!"

"I won't!"

River tugged at The Doctor's hand. "C'mon, Sweetie. Jenny's got adventures to get to and we've got time to make up for." She leaned into his ear and whispered something, which caused him to wriggle like a gawky teenager.

Jenny waved her hand as a spiral of golden light encircled her parents and they vanished. She flipped their sonic screwdriver into the air and caught it in her palm, then attached it to her belt. "Goodbye, Dad." She gave the TARDIS a gentle pat and then pulled the door shut. Moments later the _vworp vworp_ sound filled the air as Jenny left the brakes on in her dad's honor and took off into the time vortex, with the TARDIS leading her to her next adventure.


End file.
